There are a wide range of environmental control systems in the aviation industry, such as refrigeration systems for cooling various control or operative components or systems. For instance, vapor cycle cooling systems are used in aircraft as environmental control units to cool various components during operation.
Certain aircraft have vapor cycle cooling systems which are auxiliary to the main systems of the aircraft. The main systems must be cooled by some form of refrigeration or thermal control unit such as the vapor cycle cooling system.
One of the major problems with such support systems is the maintainability or serviceability thereof. A vapor cycle cooling system includes such mechanisms as compressors, condensers, condenser fans, evaporators, motors and other related control mechanisms. Should any of these devices become inoperative, heretofore it has been common either to make attempts to replace or repair the inoperative device or to remove the entire thermal control unit and replace the unit with a completely operative system. In the past, such maintenance or service required a variety of tools and consumed an inordinate amount of time ranging from an hour to the better part of a day. When dealing with maintainability or serviceability on the flight line, time consumption can be disasterous. These problems are magnified when maintenance or servicing must be done in circumstances of rain, wind or cold conditions, as well as when dealing with non-technical maintenance personnel.
There is a need for and this invention is directed to providing a new environmental control system wherein a thermal control unit can be attached and disconnected readily and with speed, and without requiring any tools whatsoever. The invention provides a support system affording maintainability and serviceability not heretofore available.